Newcastle United's Muslim players have been asked to think again before wearing shirts with the 'Wonga' company logo on the front.

Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse, Cheick Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa are all Muslims.

The call came from a representative of Muslim Council of Britain, and centres around the fact that Muslims must not benefit from any form of interest. Wonga make their money from ledning at high interest rates.

Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, told The Independent, "There are two aspects to this. We have the rulings of the religious law and we have the individual’s choice and decision on how they want to follow or not follow that rule.

"The idea is to protect the vulnerable and the needy from exploitation by the rich and powerful.

"When they are lending and are charging large amounts of interest, it means the poor will have short-term benefit from the loan but long-term difficulty in paying it back because the rate of interest is not something they can keep up with. The Islamic system is based on a non-interest-based system of transaction.

"Freddie Kanoute was allowed to wear a top without the 888.com, and that is a reasonable request to be made by the player.

"Assuming all four [of the Newcastle players concerned] are on the pitch at the same time... if you have seven out of 11 [carrying sponsorship] you have sufficient coverage. It is not asking too much, I believe.'

Wonga's are to take over from Virgin Money at the start of next season.